The College of Arts and Sciences's interdisciplinary European Studies minor explores the history, politics, economics, and cultures of the peoples of Europe from ancient times to the present.

The European Studies minor is designed for students who are interested in gaining a deeper understanding of European nations, cultures, and people, who want to explore their own European heritage, or to complement majors in areas such as Anthropology, Fine and Performing Arts, History, Global Studies, Modern Languages and Literatures, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, or Theology.

Our students will find the chance to mold their own minor liberating. With only 2 required courses along side 4 electives, most students should be able to complete this interdiscplinary minor while simulataneously completing the Core Requirements of the College and their chosen major.

Because both the Core and minor are interdisciplinary in nature, that is require taking classes across multiple departments within the College, students should, with only a modicum of strategic planning, be able to complete both simultaneously via a generous application of the double-dipping policy (see here). The result is that European Studies minors will have maximum flexibility to pick and choose classes of interest rather than having to devote significant amount of their limited schedule space to "box checking" various requirements of the major, minor, and the College. In short, students can effectively devise their own minor without having add additional time to graduation or sacrificing the opportunity to take a random class of interest that might not otherwise fit into a 4-year schedule. Add in a semester or year abroad immersed in another culture and you've got a valuable undergraduate experience that will provide you with the skills and experience necessary to pursue your interests and passions, both professional and personally.

Learning Outcomes:

Students completing a European Studies minor will:

• Acquire a general awareness of the impact that Europe has had on global affairs and conversely, the effects of global forces on Europe.
• Possess knowledge of the common cultural heritage of European peoples and the diversity of cultures found within Europe.
• Understand the factors that have shaped Europe politically, socially, and economically throughout history.
• Acquire a basic understanding of present-day European institutions.
• Be prepared to complement their European studies at the Loyola campus with more in-depth "on the ground" study of a specific European country, to further their knowledge of that country's language, culture, history and to better understand the political, social and economic problems confronting it.